Life In Repeat
by TurboNerdQueen
Summary: ((Makorra amnesia AU))


When he woke from his fitful dream, he looked at his surroundings in confusion. Sunlight peaked through the parted curtains, dust particles floating lazily in the cool air. He could hear the small amount of activity in the street outside mixed in with birds chirping away. His tired eyes scanned the room; a bureau stood against one wall with a mirror reflecting the other half of the room, showing a chair to his left and shelves with an assortment of books, knickknacks and picture frames scattered about. There were two doors standing across from each other, and he could only assume one of them was a bathroom. The room itself was relatively clean, but the fact remained that this wasn't his home, and this certainly wasn't his bed.

"What's going on?" His voice was still heavy with sleep, and when he went to toss the bedding aside, a small glint on his finger made his train of thought come to a halt. A… a _ring_? Was this some joke? He was too young for this to happen, too focused on his duty as a detective to settle down and get married. Giving himself a shake, he pushed himself out of the bed and padded across the room towards the door next to the bureau. It was almost comical the way he stopped mid-stride to do a double take at his reflection, eyes growing far too wide and his jaw going slack.

This… this had to be a horrible joke. His hands moved towards his face, feeling the rough stubble along his jawline and the slightly prominent wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and brow. There was an added touch of gray to his hair that made him look at least twenty years older, and as his hands brushed upwards through the mess he spotted a slight discoloration along his scalp that wasn't there before. A scar? Did he just have a birthmark that went unnoticed all this time? As his thoughts ran wild, he almost didn't notice the other door across the room open.

"Oh, you're awake already."

Dull ochre eyes flitted towards the intruder's reflection, his shoulders sagging in relief when he saw the all too familiar face smiling back at him. He turned to look at her head-on, his fingers tangling in his hair.

"Korra, what the hell is going on?"

Her smile never faltered, despite the obvious pain in her eyes. She walked up to him slowly, and it was then he saw the differences in her appearance as well. While her hair was still short, there was something about the coloring that seemed lighter in the sunlight that she passed through, her own face showing the tell-tale signs of age. When she stood in front of him, she reached up to take his hands in her own.

"Mako, do you remember what day it is?"

"It's the twenty-fifth." He said automatically, furrowing his brow at such a strange question. There was a nagging voice in the back of his mind about getting wrinkles from frowning like that, but hell the damage was apparently done. Korra took a breath and continued to smile, her thumbs rubbing small circles against the backs of his hands. She looked like she was getting ready to give a speech to a crowd, having memorized it by heart beforehand.

"What about the year?"

He couldn't begin to understand why she was asking about the date, something desperately trying to put the puzzle together without all the pieces readily available. He could feel himself become frustrated; at himself for his inability to wrap his mind around the situation, at her for acting so damn calm despite this all, at whoever was playing this fucked up elaborate joke on them. He was waiting on someone to jump out laughing at any moment, but no one did.

"1994. Korra, what the hell is the meaning of-"

"Sweetie, it's 2014."

Mako was ready to drop the 'it's all a joke' idea in favor of 'I'm still dreaming', seeing it could be the only logical reasoning behind this. But as Korra eased him back on the bed and began to explain things with such conviction and looking at Mako almost as if she was expecting him to add something to the story, he was left with nothing else but the truth.

"So… a fucking bomb went off, right?" He asked after she was done, his fingers running over the scar from the attack. Korra nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"You were lucky; doctor said you were a hair from death had it not been for your partner's quick thinking."

"And… and Wai didn't make it because of me." He could still remember joking with his new partner over lunch, a green-eyed kid who had a promising future and Mako took that away from him because of a stupid mistake. He felt Korra place her hand over his own, staring at him intensely.

"It wasn't your fault, Mako. The Triads behind it were caught and are still serving time. Wai is a hero in our family, and his daughter absolutely adores her uncle 'Mak'."

Family. That's right, they had a family now. He was still surprised by the amount of wedding photos Korra had pulled out- she laughed when he commented on how beautiful she looked then and now- and progressed to the countless photo albums of bright young faces. Children. Their children. He was a father to three amazing kids and he couldn't even remember their names.

"Is it always like this? Every morning for you to give me a refresher before we go about our day like nothing's wrong? Why haven't you given up?" He asked after a while, his shoulders slumped under the weight of it all. Korra deserved better than this role of caretaker. He could only imagine the pain she felt having to do this same damn thing every morning for almost twenty years. Korra moved closer to him, draping her arm around him and giving him a squeeze.

"When have you ever known me to throw in the towel? You've given me twenty-odd years of unconditional love and adventure, and three wonderful children who mean the world to us. You're just going to have to face it, City boy. You're stuck with me til' death do us part."

"All these years and you still call me that?" He chuckled softly at the term of 'endearment'. Korra gave him a lopsided grin before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"You know it. Now go shave, your daughter is bringing her fiance by to-"

"FIANCE!? You never said anything about a fiance!"


End file.
